Lyme guidelines outrage sufferers

Associated Press
Lyme disease activists are hailing Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s recent decision to investigate whether antitrust laws have been violated by new Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines for diagnosing and treating the illness.

The new guidelines by the nonprofit medical group, which were released in October, deny the existence of a chronic form of Lyme disease.

Most of the conventional treatments for treating a long-term infection are listed as ”not recommended” in the new guidelines, which are posted on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

”This is just a travesty,” said Patricia Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association, who urged Blumenthal to investigate the new protocol. ”I have people e-mailing me every day saying they can’t get treatment for themselves or their children.” (more…)